Mask of the Week--Brian Hayward, San Jose Sharks

This was Brian Hayward's San Jose Sharks mask from 1991-1993. This mask began the trend of having a creature on the mask appearing to devour the person inside of it. I love that trend!!

Nabokov's Meat.

I giggled myself silly when I first saw this...poor Nabby. That had to sting. But these announcers are awesome!! I should become a Sharks fan just to hear them...if only Nabby was going to be there next season instead of Russia...

Mask of the Week--Curtis Joseph, Toronto Maple Leafs

Time for another favorite mask from the NHL archives...this week I pick one of Curtis Joseph's Cujo masks. This was from when he played for Toronto in 2008-09. Love the Toronto blue with the snarling dog. My husband is quick to point out that Cujo was actually a St. Bernard, and this mask does not depict a St. Bernard. I said, "Cujo is the goalie's nickname, he's not saying the dog on the helmet is Cujo." Stickler for detail, that one. Curtis had many different Cujo masks through the years, for many different teams, but this is my favorite.

My Henrik SportsPick (action figure)

Here's my first Henrik figure...the blue shirt one. I might eventually get the white shirt variant, but this will do for now. Great detail!

Mask of the Week--Vesa Toskala, Toronto Maple Leafs

There are so many awesome goalie masks out there. So many great ones through the years...so I'm going to post one now and then. It's not necessarily going to be because I like the goalie, because many of them I don't know anything about. But it's all about the mask in the Mask of the Week post.

First up...one of the coolest masks I've EVER seen...Vesa Toskala when he was with Toronto (one of the seasons between 2007-08 and 2009-10 before he was traded to Calgary.)

Love, love, love it!!! The fact that I love Toronto blue probably also helps...

Happy Trails, Nabby!

Say it ain't so!!! Evgeni Nabokov has signed a 6-yr contract with a team in Russia. He'll no longer be in the NHL. I'm going to miss him!! ~tears~

I wish him well...maybe he's excited about going back to Russia? Quite a change for his family though...his wife was originally from Kentucky. Maybe they'll still live here .... anyway, here's the story from NHL.com:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=533939

Former San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has signed a six-year contract with St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League, according to multiple reports.

Nabokov and Marty Turco were the big names among goalies when NHL free agency began on July 1, but there hadn't been significant interest shown as teams went for less-expensive options.

The 34-year-old Nabokov won a career-best 44 games this past season for the Sharks, who made it to the Western Conference Finals before getting swept in four straight by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks.

For his NHL career, Nabokov has 293 wins, a 2.39 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 563 regular-season games. He is 40-38 in 80 postseason games with a 2.29 GAA and .913 save percentage, but the Sharks never made the Stanley Cup Final during his tenure despite regularly finishing at or near the top of the Western Conference standings

My one post about Antti Niemi (for my favorite minion)

Ok, minion...you know who you are. I will add one post about Antti, for whom you have so much goalie love. I decided I could do that when I saw how cool his mask was...;o)

So...Antti Niemi became the first Finnish goalie to win a Stanley Cup this year. Congrats, Antti! And my minion sends you much goalie love from central Illinois...

Free Agent Goalie Info on this 3rd day of free agency market

From NHL.com's Top 40 Remaining Free Agents

List of best goalies left:

Evgeni Nabokov San Jose 44-16-10, 2.43 GAA 131 wins in last 3 seasons (44 in '09-10) weren’t enough to overcome age (35 in July) and playoff disappointments.

Marty Turco Dallas 22-20-11, 2.72 GAA Another almost-35-year-old who's hitting the market at a bad time for a starter looking for a job.

Jose Theodore Washington 30-7-7, 2.81 GAA Caps let 33-year-old go despite best regular season in years.

Ray Emery Philadelphia 16-11-1, 2.64 GAA Abdominal injury that required surgery ruined his season. Has to show he's healthy again.

Yann Danis New Jersey 3-2-1, 2.06 GAA After spending a season watching Martin Brodeur play, he's looking for a job again.

Game of musical chairs for NHL's masked men

From NHL.com

See original article
 
Highlights:
A casual observer sees Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco headlining the goalie market and wonders how in the world the two big name guys are still unemployed? But this isn't all that strange as winds of philosophical change appear to be sweeping through the NHL's fraternity of general managers.

The salary cap system allows for only so many big contracts, and after watching a pair of bargain busters in Antti Niemi and Michael Leighton battle for the Stanley Cup last month it's become crystal clear that teams can win a championship in this League without spending through the roof on a goalie.

Instead of re-signing Nabokov or turning their attention to Turco, likely a less-expensive option, the San Jose Sharks Thursday gave a reported two years and $4 million to Antero Niittymaki. They plan on using him in a tandem with Thomas Greiss, and together they'll cost less than what Nabokov wants.

It's a leap of faith, yes, but it's a cheap one and it allowed Sharks GM Doug Wilson to re-sign Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski while saving money for Devin Setoguchi.

Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman chose to give a reported $1.5 million per year to Dan Ellis so he can duke it out with Mike Smith for the No. 1 job. Yzerman gave the big money to Martin St. Louis in a four-year contract extension and then signed Pavel Kubina Friday for two years at a reported $7.7 million.

The Atlanta Thrashers tabbed Chris Mason for two years at a reported $3.7 million to be the buffer for Ondrej Pavelec, who still might not be ready to assume a No. 1 job in the NHL.

Perhaps even more surprising, the Philadelphia Flyers may also be set in goal with Leighton and Brian Boucher coming back as a tandem. GM Paul Holmgren reportedly gave low-ball offers to Nabokov and Turco, and when they didn't bite, he gave Leighton a deal that will pay him $1.5 million for two years.

So where does this leave Nabokov and Turco?

That still remains to be seen (Philadelphia may still be an option), but there doesn't appear to be a great demand for proven winners who are 35-years-old, especially not when most teams appear to have their goaltending situations set already.

One report had Nabokov's agent talking about options in Russia and ESPN.com's Pierre Lebrun posted on his Twitter account Thursday morning that Turco's agent told him it could take "three months" for him to find the right fit.

New York Rangers:
Henrik Lundqvist is the unquestioned No. 1, but the Rangers hope they gave him some relief by signing Biron Thursday to be the backup. Lundqvist played in 73 games this past season and his backups (an unsuccessful mix of Steve Valiquette, Chad Johnson, Matt Zaba and Auld) went a combined 3-6-1.


Biron is excited at the opportunity to work with Benoit Allaire, who he knows from his teenage years in Quebec. Lundqvist will be the happiest guy in the room if Biron can successfully start 20 or so games. That would help the Rangers considerably should they get to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
 

2nd day of free agency frenzy begins...

From NHL.com

There remain a ton of quality backups on the market, as well as some pretty decent No. 1 goalies looking for work. Evgeni Markov, Marty Turco and Jose Theodore headline the latter group.
It will be interesting to see how the goalie situation plays out in the coming days.

Awesome save by Evgeni

Found this on NHL.com. I love awesome saves!!!